Changing your note-taking habits isn’t usually at the top of your list of New Year’s resolutions; however, your method can make or break your academic efficiency. With the Winter semester in full swing, having your note-taking system in ship-shape is crucial for beginning the term with a bang. The Tribune interviewed students across campus to discover which methods they prefer and where they stand on the age-old question: Stick with pen and paper, or give up and embrace being an iPad kid?
Traditional methods
Despite the dominance of personal laptops and AI-powered optimizers, some students still opt for the traditional pen-and-paper method. Michel Adamic, PhD student in McGill’s Department of Physics, told The Tribune that he felt most comfortable drawing and writing his studies by hand.
“That’s what I was taught from a young age, so it’s what I’m used to,” Adamic said. “I’m a physicist, so everything needs to be drawn and written down.”
Amihan Del Rosario Tapan, U0 Arts, prefers using a simulated paper tablet called the reMarkable Paper Pro. She expressed her appreciation for the lightweight product as opposed to having traditional books.
“It’s a bit impractical to use real paper. For the purpose of university, I want to access my notes easily.”
It seems that even between McGill’s upper and lower years, paper—and paper emulators—remain popular.
Online document editors
Ease of access is a common theme amongst digital users. Louisa Zaloom, U1 Arts, stated that Google Docs makes it easy to look up keywords and reference them later. This sentiment was echoed by Devanie Dezémé, U3 Arts.
“If there are any links or videos that we watched in class, even if I’m using Google Docs, it is usually already embedded in my notes,” Dezémé added.
Kasen Korstanje, U2 Arts, highlighted the availability of OneNote through McGill student emails. OneNote also allows its users to organize their pages into notebooks. This gives the platform a leg above document editors like Google Docs, which can only be organized into folders on Google Drive or tabs.
Collaboration and productivity platforms
Notion is a comprehensive platform often hailed for its aesthetically pleasing templates. Contrary to usual document editors, Notion primarily uses KaTeX expressions as a shortcut to stylize text and insert content. Onur Gul, U2 Arts, expressed his enjoyment of the feature.
“Commands are fast if you’re a fast typer,” he said. “However, you can’t share your notes with someone unless you pay for a plan.”
Digital notebooks
For students looking to combine the tactile experience of writing with the convenience of digital devices, apps like Notability and Goodnotes stand out.
“[Notability] is super versatile and lets me write with a keyboard and with my iPad pen at the same time,” Julien Finn, U3 Arts & Sc., stated.
However, he noted that Notability’s best features, including the ability to make unlimited edits, are behind a paywall, limiting what free users can access each month.
On GoodNotes, a free plan only lets you edit three documents. Hopey Ferrer, U1 Arts, says that she enjoys the Goodnotes paid plan, alternating between her tablet and paper.
“I use my iPad for heavy classes and paper for when I really want to focus and rest my eyes,” Ferrer said.
Other methods
Dezémé, though primarily a Google Docs user, enjoys writing directly on lecture PDFs when available.
“This allows me to study anywhere and on any connected device,” she stated.
Angélique Chu, U3 Arts, uses Glean, an application available through McGill’s Student Accessibility & Achievement. The app records and takes notes of lectures, highlighting key points of the lesson for its user.
“[Glean] helps review my notes, due to sensory-processing issues I have,” Chu explained. “I’m fortunate to have access to Glean and other accommodations, but I wish more students were aware of what services that they could have.”
New note-taking technology enters campus ever so often, but it seems that some mediums stand the test of time. One thing’s for certain—you’ll need to try them all for yourself to know what works.
